Elroy Gelant ran the race of his life to finish 11th at the Paris Olympics marathon as Stephen Mokoka made up for the disappointment of Tokyo with a 27th place finish on Saturday.
In a race won by Ethiopia's Tamarit Tola in a record tine of 2:06:26, Gelant crossed the line in 2:09:10 to realise his objective of a top 15 finish for Team SA.
Mokoka did well to complete the race after he failed to finish at the Tokyo Games in the race ran in the debilitating humidity of Sapporo three years ago.
The conditions in Paris were not that different, but Gelant coped very well as he once again shone brightest do South Africa just as he did in Japan.
🇪![CDATA[]]>🇹 Tomirat Tola 🥇
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🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 South Africans Elroy Gelant (11th) and Stephen Mokoka (27th) 👏#Paris2024 | #CloserToYourChampions pic.twitter.com/0nWX2FWTR5
Strong start
The 37-year-old looked confident from the onset as he kept up with the lead group. Gelant ran shoulder to shoulder with the great Eliud Kipchoge who suffered from a hip pain early on but incredibly persisted to about the 30km mark before abandoning his quest for a third successive marathon title at the Olympics.
The South African champion showed his intent when he pushed ahead of the big chasing group at about 16km behind early leader Faniel of Italy.
Tola caught up just before the half marathon mark which he crossed in 64:51 with Gelant some eight seconds behind.
A huge lead group of 15 runners stuck together from there on and would only be broken up by the monstrous incline just before the 28th to the 29th kilometre.
It was on that hill that Tola really broke away, never to be caught.
Gelant struggled up that hill and like most he was left behind and could only look to achieve his objective of a top-15 as the leaders disappeared from view.
His delight as he got on to the blue surface of the final few metres towards the finish knew no bounds, Gelant exhorting the crowd to cheer him on and then raising his arms gleefully in celebration.
It was a fantastic run on a difficult course to cap an equally brilliant year in which Gelant shone brightest on the road by winning both the national half and full marathons titles as well as a number of 10km races.
Mokoka crossed the line a few minutes later in 2:10:59, he too delighted at having finished the race after that forgettable race at the Tokyo Games where he did not finish.